Royal Mail and CWU await mediators report

We believe that the mediation talks between the Royal Mail and the CWU have progressed to the stage where the mediator, Professor Lynette Harris, is preparing her report. We estimate that this could be delivered as early as next week.

“The talks have been difficult and protracted. The next couple of weeks will be crucial to determine whether a final Agreement can be reached if we are to secure our objective in regards to our Four Pillars of Security and Pay to the point that we can genuinely build a bridge between our current Agreement and the next few years.

As part of the mediation process, the external Mediator is now due to provide a final summary report setting out

Retailers can be reassured that in the run up to Christmas strikes are still extremely unlikely, although there is still a high probability of strikes at some point, judging by the tone of the CWU who added “no High Court Judge or third party Mediator will resolve this dispute, ultimately it is a matter between the CWU and Royal Mail Group”.

What we know at this stage is that from the date the mediator submits her report, the two sides have a week to meet and review the report, if they don’t agree two weeks for further negotiations and if they still can’t come to a resolution then this is the earliest point at which the CWU could give notice of strike days.

What is the earliest the CWU could call a mail strike?

That all adds up to about another five weeks of legal process before the first possible strike which takes us right up to Christmas.

Whilst it’s unlikely most of the country would support a CWU mail workers strike, retailers and the general public will probably all breath a sigh of relief that they will be after Christmas.

Whilst strikes are a pain, frankly the impact of a strike in January is negligible compared to pre-Christmas. There will still be plenty of packets and parcels flying around the country in the New Year, but the threat of an item not arriving in time for Christmas will be gone and it’s likely that consumers will shrug their shoulders and accept that their credit card statement might arrive a couple of days late.

not one postperson has to strike ,all we have to do is work our contracted hours and do not do overtime.
the amount of full time jobs that have been lost and replaced by part time contracts in the warrington delivery office means that the office is running on overtime all year round .if this was to stop for a short time it would have the same effect as a strike but without anyone losing any money

Agreed. I am a part time postman in Glasgow and the amount of time my fellow colleagues and I work for ‘free’ by coming in early to cope with the workload has been constant for over 4 months now. Full time positions are not being replaced due to royal mail policy. They will only take on people part time as it is cheaper for them with regards to not only wages but pension payments as well. The deficit in hours is ‘expected’ to be made up from part time staff. More and more internal work that is covered by full time staff members has been cut due to no one being made full time and this creates major issues as the work is not ready for official dispatch times. If part time staff members did not do these extra unpaid hours the whole thing would collapse and that is possibly what needs to happen for royal mail to realise that their current work policy is not working!

EJ

12 months ago

@mike hunt

I remember the miners strike (Arthur Scargill) I believe overtime didn’t help the cause of the miners then either. Stockpiling coal to be used against them, and (I believe) striking during a mild (weather wise) time of the year.

What you suggest makes good sense mike…work to rule, isn’t it?.

Gareth

12 months ago

What an arrogant, one sided, blinkered, short sided piece of drivel!!
Shrug your shoulders and dismiss the strikes as a minor inconvenience and carry on ignoring what’s really happening. Then in a few years when you’re bleating about such an awful service royal mail provides you can think back and remember how indifferent and self serving you were.

Gary

12 months ago

Very true
Work your contracted hours
Take meal relief breaks
Managers can’t do anything about that
I’m a CWU rep in Manchester and I have to listen to employees saying they need to come in early to complete !!!!
Do they not hear themselves ??
#riseup

Paul

12 months ago

I work in a small office on the south coast, I’ve been a postie 31 years, 7years in this particular office, and all this time 90pc of the staff turn up at 5.30-5.45,for a 6.15 start, and take NO break, and I HONESTLY think they then all go out And RACE each other back!!!!!!!!

Colin

12 months ago

Totally agree with you have been a postman for 32 years now and still can’t believe how naive people are. What other workplace would people go in early and work for nothing??!!!

My wife just opened a new bank account and the girl @Lloyds told her that she has to get in at 8am to get ready for 9am to start seeing appointments.

Northumbrian

12 months ago

Yeah work to rule be awkward
And when you have no job blame everyone else

EJ

12 months ago

@Northumbrian

I’m not trying to be funny, but I thought it was mentioned some weeks ago, on a different subject, that (now don’t laugh) you were a UNION rep?.

I’m guessing I got it wrong ? 😉

Northumbrian

12 months ago

Yep I was a union shop steward
In the shipyards
I have first had experience of mass redundancy job loss work to rule and strikes,
And hindsight tells me the CWU
are on that same course

Northumbrian

12 months ago

It really was quite simple
No one wanted to pay the price
For British ships , Due in part to higher wages and Worker conditions ,
So we lost our jobs
Companies with hundreds of years of trading and tradition
Went bust .so don’t kid yourselves
Royal mail is immune

Simon Rogers

12 months ago

Work to rule would be best all round but folk in the office I work in want even do that they have no union rep and don’t won’t one but vote to strike

Lewis

12 months ago

I work for royal mail down south in a mail centre as a postman

Most of the work force are lazy, they expect the world and give nothing, they expect to make time every day for absolute minimal effort, but when asked to help out they look at you like you’ve just fired them.

If a job requires 3 people you’ll see two giving 50% effort and the third who wants to see the job done 200%.

Management don’t care about productivity as they have their hands tied as they can’t tell staff to work harder as of the CWU and staff treating it as harassment. Mostly the older lot, just waiting to retire .

It’s been the same since I started 14 years ago, the older lot retire and burn the bridges for the younger members of staff, they don’t care about tomorrow’s generation of workers , they couldn’t care if the company goes to sh…

Royal mail is being ruined and run into the ground by the older generation without a care for the newer.

Kevin Williams

12 months ago

Just to reply to your generalizing drivel,I’m a fifty nine years old opg and been working for Royal Mail since 1974,the reason that you have what you have is down to other senior colleagues and myself who over the years have fought against imposition and difficult working practices that the company has at times tried to impose, you have a narrow minded view of older people that through the years have paid weekly their taxes and national insurance ,get a few years under your belt in Royal Mail and in life and then perhaps your anti age views will dilute a bit.

Jon

12 months ago

I don’t agree with your generation theory , but I do agree that a lot of staff are bone idle. I work in an office where people give the same amount of stuff away every day regardless of how many households they have or what time there off sorting . People giving stuff away when there bagged up and ready to go at 8.30 ish ,but drag there feet and don’t leave the office till nearly 10, makes my blood boil

A strike is not necessary. We have a more effective tool in an overtime ban and just working contracted hours. Far too many jobs have been down graded to part time, rounds made bigger.
We are the ones who lose out financially by striking and are expected to deliver any delayed mail in the immediate days after a strike with no overtime. No brainer

Richard Easthope

12 months ago

The trouble is the people at the head of the CWU are a bunch of thicko’s, they should be voted out of there position and put on the walks and blind man can see that work to rule is only way

alan paterson

12 months ago

Few of the above posts from postman are seeing how it effects us ebayers. You have a gripe with your employer – I get it. Its not the first time.

However, don’t you dare try to use my business as leverage to gain what you believe you are entitled to.

I am long enough doing mail order to remember ALL the times this has happened before. Back then us sellers didn’t have so many options. When i heard of this action i just switched to a more competitive courier. Are they as good as royal mail? thats not the point…..they don’t try to stuff up my business at peak persons to try and get what they want.

This is just one angle – there are so many – and strike action is just wrong. And to answer one of the questions above – yes! i often come into my business and work for nothing. If you are in a job you likely wont understand that. you know what I do? I just get on with it – i try to make the business more efficient and profitable. the way i see it strike mentality does the opposite – you try to get your own way by blackmailing your employer with loss of revenue. its wrong, its outdated and if you don’t see what it did to other British industries over the years- you are outdated too.

And no more postman at my door with pitchforks like the last time. This is my opinion, I am entitled, it is based on facts and many years of experience and a unique (long story) understanding of economics. No need to reply to my post. I know it will not be popular but i have already read all your opinions and the conclusion is that your logic is flawed. So there. Nah!

To the above post e.bay is rubbish what do u know about delivery I have worked for 36 yrs in post office in all sorts of weather u want to try it its not all about money ..its more to do with the pension I payed into it I want it & I bet u won’t work 10am to 6pm on a sat like they want us to do no u just a nobody that to thick to see up u own backside

Andy R

12 months ago

If the CWU keep hitting their customers, who pay for all of their wages, how can posties be surprised if their jobs are gone in the next few years?

The only ones who don’t have a choice of carrier are those who stick stamps on their small packets and letters.

But in case you hadn’t noticed, there aren’t many of those left now.

Nobody wants to see people out of a job, but that is where the posties are headed if they follow Dave Ward’s suicide mission and his Four Pillocks.

PS – to the guy whining about Sat working – most of the business people on this board often work 7 days a week to make a crust.

northumbrian

12 months ago

Tired of this worked in all sorts of weathers bollocks
So what !
I also live in the UK and suffer all sorts of weather every day

Jack

12 months ago

I work in a MC and you posties make me laugh you all say work to rule but you don’t you go in early you stay over if Royal Mail wanted you to do this instead of you you doing it to suit yourself I’m sure there would be hell on we’ve got what we’ve got now because we’ve fought for it and if we don’t fight for this there will be no Royal Mail it will all be agency which is what they want it’s alright for Moyà and all ghe fats cats to get a pay rise and bonuses but what about the people who’s really doing the work c’mon people get a grip and support our union P.S moya.s pension been looked after

EJ

12 months ago

@Northumbrian
Ah yes, the shipyards. You understand why I asked?, you do sound very Anti union, but then you have seen (and felt?) first hand, the effects of “them & us”.

Why does it ALWAYS have to be “them & us”?. The once mighty (I’m not taking the mick) Royal Mail is now just another delivery service. One of many, better set-up than most, but now just an “option”, and can be a very expensive option at that.

And now?, though it pains me to say it (credit where it’s due) the likes of Yodel, and myHermes do seem (from personal experience) to have upped their game.

Northumbrian

12 months ago

No not anti union
Just anti political inflexibility,
As you say ,the them and us ethos,
It reminds me of my time in the shipyards when the management
Offered after work meetings with union reps providing refreshments in the boardroom,to talk over issues and problems with senior managers

I have worked for Royal Mail since 1995. I think if you were to look at our terms and conditions and compare them with similar delivery companies, we are second to none.
Full sick pay for 6 months, 1/2 pay for a further six months. Brilliant maternity package. Throwing free shares at us. This is our company lets look after it.

Jack

12 months ago

Yes sue I agree with you but again we’ve only got them benefits because we fought for them like we need to fight for our pensions and conditions and a pay rise what we haven’t had nobody wants to go on strike but if we lay down and roll over then we might aswell just say goodbye to terms and conditions because they will do just what they want to do with us FACT

northumbrian

12 months ago

@jack
in the past posties had a monopoly you held some of the cards,
today
customers will simply go elsewhere and you will have no job at all

Listen these guys don’t care about you posties. They just want to sell there fake goods on eBay rip off the general puplic and endanger people’s life . Dont waste your time on these worthless rip off merchants!!

Many e Bayes could not survive without the postie. They often collect their goods, despatch to the relevant address and deliver it to, often having provide proof of delivery. We do it in all weather’s and often overloaded and in overtime. Not necessary if the powers that be had the correct amount of staff and forever increasing workloads.
I want every e Bayer to have a first class service but not whist we have a Dickensian management structure.

Northumbrian

12 months ago

Many posties would not have a job
Without eBay buyers and sellers,

Who work all hours ,often for less than the minimum wage ,
Many others have other jobs and commitments
So what’s so special about delivering letters and packets s

We do it to keep you self superior e bayers in a job too. What makes you so special?
We do it for everyone else in the country not just upstarts who think they are relevant to the country’s economy. We can survive with or without you!,!

10+ years ago I was putting 250,000+ items through Royal Mail every two months, now I send 2,500 – With the internet I do not need to send out the massive mailings I used to, a loss of £300,000+ to the Royal Mail from one customer

I have spoken with other couriers like MyHermes etc, but I have always trusted Royal Mail with my business and see no reason to change. As long as the Royal Mail or postmen do not give me cause to.

Your problems are with your managers & higher up the chain, I do not disrespect postmen and if you are a true postman then I wonder why you would come on here to disrespect us sellers.

In general l have no problem with e bayers, but some seem to feel they are more important than other customers who use Royal Mail. All customers are important.
I agree our gripe is with management, but they are exploiting us at your expense. They want a service on the cheap and at greater profit. There are only a certain amount of cuts that create an efficient service for its customers.
We all want the same result an efficient and reliable service delivered by an efficient and caring workforce.

James

12 months ago

From RM own report; addressed letter volume are declining between four to six per cent per annum. Parcels and business from online sellers therefore become more important for RM year on year for continued survival, and will continue to do so. It is not in the interest of either side to lose businesses currently using RM, which uncertainty of strike action will achieve.
While I agree the sentiment of all customers being important, some are more important than others for the long term success of RM and their employees. Perhaps your post is indicative of the change of thinking that needs to take place from ALL levels within RM, management and posties.

James

12 months ago

The best form of cuts would be getting rid of a significant number of you lot and replacing you with machines (for sorting).

If you can’t keep up with a machine go out to the real world, learn some new skills and find a better job. You won’t of course.

Northumbrian

12 months ago

Yes we want
efficiency and reliability
Though comes at a cost that postmen seem unwilling to pay
Or comprehend
They still live in the past with their Dickensian masters

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